


The Tent

by MJays



Series: Gigolas Camp AU! [3]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Legolas needs a hug, M/M, Nightmares, Protective Gimli, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:08:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25523362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MJays/pseuds/MJays
Summary: Legolas curses the fact that Gimli doesn't have his own tent. Because sharing his small one for an entire week? Not possible. ((First chapter humor and fluff, second angst <3))
Relationships: Gimli (Son of Glóin) & Legolas Greenleaf, Gimli (Son of Glóin)/Legolas Greenleaf
Series: Gigolas Camp AU! [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1846567
Comments: 1
Kudos: 74





	1. Sharing is Caring

"You've got to be jesting with me," Legolas said with a heaved sigh, staring disapprovingly at his tent and then grudgingly at Aragorn. 

"Hey, it's not like I like this any better than you do," Aragorn responded, but it only made Legolas glare harder. 

"Don't even try that with me, I know you'll share a tent with Arwen!" Legolas snapped back, crossing his arms with half a mind to pick up his tent and leave. "Why can't I share with Boromir he asked, not even trying to sound like he wasn't whining. "Or Eowyn or Faramir?" He was close friends with all of the mentioned, but he knew the reason he wouldn't get to very well. 

Legolas talked a lot (a lot) of gibberish in his sleep, and would often even hum full melodies. Gimli snored like a devil, loud enough that some of the kids of the camp asked each summer who the heck it was, one wee lad even asking to make sure it wasn't some sort of wild animal outside. 

So of course, the rest of the leaders had decided to put the two evils together, and make them share a tent. 

Legolas tried not to swear in frustration as Aragorn didn't bother to answer the obvious question, and Legolas cursed every god above that Gimli hadn't brought his own means for camping. Would it be frowned upon if he gave Gimli the tent and slept himself beneath the stars? It wasn't a great example for the kids, but still!

The company was to be away for a week, hiking each day and ending the journey at the top of a nearby mountain. It was always a part of summer Legolas looked forward to, because he loved sleeping so close to nature, in the middle of the calm forest. Now though? He wasn't sure it would be as pleasant.

He and Gimli argued and bickered much more than they did anything else, and Legolas knew for a fact it would be hard finding his peace with him right next to him. 

Even so, the day went by without his request for a switch being met, and given Gimli's death glare by the dinner table, he guessed the other man too wasn't too happy about it either. 

-

So that's how the duo found themselves, once again glaring at each other (because of like, fifty disagreements they'd had while choosing a spot and putting up the tent), side by side in the crowded space. 

It was a two person tent, sure, but at that moment Legolas was sure that it was way smaller than it usually was. If he just shifted around a tiny bit in his sleep, he'd suffocate on Gimli's annoyingly large beard. 

"You better stay on your side, don't fancy snuggling you," Gimli said gruffly, voicing Legolas thoughts. 

"Let's avoid that shall we?" Legolas answered back, voice equally annoyed as he took his bag and shoved it with unnecessary aggression them. Deciding it would also be better to not be glaring two inches away from Gimli's face, he also tried to maneuver around with his feet towards the other side of the tent. It wasn't gracefully made in the minimal space, and Gimli swore roughly at him as his elbow accidentally collided with his face. Ha. 

The redhead seemed to take the hint though, and gladly shoved his own pack beside Legolas', successfully creating a small barrier between them.

"Happy enough to sleep now, prince Legolas?" Gimli asked with the made up title he so often used, and Legolas roughly shoved his bag closer to Gimli to give himself some more space. Luckily, Gimli didn't retort by pushing it back too much, as the game of space could definitively go on for a while. 

"Would you two shut up?!" Was suddenly called from outside their tent, and the two snapped their gazes from each other as they recognized the angry voice of Eowyn. Gods know she'd get in there and make them if they didn't.

"Sorry Eowyn!" They both called in unison, before giving each other one last glare and laying down. 

Silence had fallen over their camp, just a few murmurs of excited students filling the air from time to time. It would probably be a while until they fell asleep, Legolas supposed, but as his head hit the pillow, he was pretty sure that wouldn't apply to himself. 

He normally got around on abnormally few hours of sleep without getting affected, but the forest definitively had a calming effect on him. He used to camp all the time when he was younger together with his father. They'd lived in a secluded house (maybe more like mansion) in a secluded part of the woods, and it was a love that Legolas would never grow out of. 

He'd be sure to manage his night even through Gimli's unbearable snores and the unusually crowded space of his tent. 

-

When Legolas awoke, it was slow and groggy. 

It definitively took a while for him to orient himself, which wasn't that unusual for him. As things slowly registered, Legolas kept his eyes closed in a feeble attempt to fall back to sleep. Because it was so very nice and comfortable in his bed, even though it seemed slightly sturdier and bumpier than normal. No matter, it was so very warm. 

Humming contently, Legolas buried his face further into his pillow, only to snap his eyes open in shock as he felt something that was definitively not supposed to be part of his bed. 

Taking a deep breath, he'd breathed in a lot of what was undoubtedly hair. 

Lying still, frozen like a dear in the headlights, Legolas slowly glanced down to realize that yeah, that was most certainly hair. More like, it was most certainly Gimli's long beard. 

All senses rushing back to him, Legolas realized that the two were in a very compromising position. Legolas had one leg completely thrown over the other man, his other somehow interwoven with Gimli's- who just so happened to have his arm tightly slung around Legolas' waist, keeping him firmly pressed against his chest. Their bags were shoved on the other side of the tent, the barrier having proven to be completely useless. 

Wide awake, Legolas mind reeled desperately at how to solve this situation in a way that wouldn't involve embarrassing himself further or involve him and Gimli wanting to murder each other for the rest of the journey. 

Before he could think of something though, Boromir's voice rang out loudly to them.

"Hey, why aren't you two up yet?" He called, sounding disapproving. "We're leaving soon, everyone's already had breakfast!"

Gimli's eyes had of course snapped open as well by the loud call, snapping down to meet Legolas'. 

They screamed and jumped away from each other as if on cue. 

-

The next morning, Gimli went straight to Boromir to ask if either he or Faramir would be willing for a switch of tent mates. He got a ringing no when Boromir crossed his arms and told him that if the two had silly squabbles this was a great opportunity to finally get over them. Gimli was way too embarrassed to tell the truth, even if it meant having to sleep next to Legolas again. 

Honestly, he'd expected the blonde to murder him or something. After all, he'd actually held the blonde against his chest, his other hand tangled in his hair. Not that Legolas had done much better, but still.

Gimli's heart pounded just thinking about it. He was a grown man, and he'd slept together with people in the literal sense before. It was the gentlemanly thing to do after, well, sleeping together in a different way. He'd been the big spoon, the small spoon, laid close together with someone for an hour after waking up, just enjoying the silence. 

But never before had he woken up actually clutching someone. It was embarrassing beyond measure, but the worst part of course was that of all the bloody people in the world, it had been Legolas!

Legolas, who was stubborn and argumentative and so headstrong that Gimli could barely believe it. 

But in that moment, for just a second, he'd been soft and warm and comfortable against Gimli's side. 

When the second ended, there had been nothing but embarrassment and panic. But still, the strange scene had thrown Gimli off a loop. 

For the next night, they didn't say a word to each other as they both reluctantly climbed in to the bed. Legolas determinedly shoved their bags between them, of course trying to give himself the larger space once more which Gimli would not allow. He was also pretty sure that another big pack was there that wasn't there the night before. Where it came from, he had no idea. 

Legolas was once again facing the opposite side to Gimli's head, and now that he knew Legolas moved around a lot, he got a bit concerned the blonde would kick him in his sleep. He'd seen Legolas deliver a powerful kick to a man's head level before when training, and he would not like to have his nose smashed thank you very much. 

But honestly, that concern wasn't as big as waking up with an arm full of cuddling again. But now that he knew it was a fear, he was sure he could control it. It had just been a moments sleepy confusion after all, he must have dreamed something weird that involved someone else. 

It took a while for him to fall asleep that night, and the light of Legolas' phone annoyed him greatly. But if that's what it took for the other to stay awake and not invade his personal space, then it was fine by Gimli. 

Because surely it was Legolas and not he who had initiated this utterly humiliating situation. 

-

The next morning, Gimli slowly and softly awoke as sunlight shone in his eyes. Moaning contently at the wonderful warmth and softness he felt, Gimli made to stretch his neck and bury back down in his mattress. 

Only to slowly realize that his mattress was moving a tiny bit up and down. 

Jumping up so quickly he accidentally punched his head up in Legolas' jaw, the two once again found themselves staring wide at one another. 

Only later did he realize that this time around, it was he who had turned around and laid his head by Legolas side. Knowing that he wasn't as innocent in their situation as he'd previously believed, Gimli pulled on his shoes and went out a bit to swear loudly in the woods. 


	2. A Nightmare

After those first two horrid nights, it somehow got a bit better. Sure, they'd still somehow wake up with their limbs slightly tangled, but at least they'd stuck with their heads on the opposite sides, not using each others chests as bodily pillows. 

They'd also began placing their tent a fair bit away from the others, given Eowyn's lecture of waking all of them up shouting on the second morning. 

Legolas began going to sleep much later than him, and Gimli made sure to wake up earlier as to avoid the embarrassment as much as possible. This didn't mean that they didn't spend some of the hours sleeping at the same time, but at least it was an improvement.

They managed to make it work, but they didn't speak much during the week that passed, seldom over much else than to bicker when the kids weren't near. 

Everything had grown strained, and for some reason, Gimli really didn't like that. It had felt like he and Legolas were finally growing some understanding between them, but this had put that faint friendship to a test. 

Afterwards, none of the nights would be considered particularly eventful in comparison to the last day of the week they'd spent outdoors. 

Gimli had awoken in the middle of the night to movement beside him. This wasn't in itself particularly unusual as both of them were evidently very tossing sleepers. And Gimli usually slept like a rock, not much could normally rouse him. But Legolas was evidently trying to prove him wrong on that or something, given that he was violently tossing back and fourth right beside Gimli. 

Half asleep still, Gimli managed to make out some frantic mumbling that was definitively in another language. Cracking his eyes open Gimli managed to remember where he was quickly enough, and sat up to see what all the fuss was about. 

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" He asked groggily, only to quickly grow very concerned 

Legolas had his eyes open, still pouring words in a language Gimli didn't know, and wasn't sure he would catch even if they were spoken in one of the ones he did given how panicked and fast the rambling was. 

Fear automatically gripped him at the unusual scene, but panic seized his chest as Gimli realized that Legolas wouldn't be messing with him about something like this, and it would have been frightening enough if his eyes weren't open, wide and completely unfocused. Moving fast, he went to hover over the others tossing form, almost automatically trying to grab his wrists to make him still before realizing that could have a very bad effect. 

Gimli was just about to scream out for someone to come and help, sure that Legolas was having some kind of seizure or panic attack given that he didn't even blink. 

But just as he was about to, Legolas suddenly gasped loudly and shot up in a sitting position, only to accidentally bang their foreheads harshly together. 

Taken by surprise, Gimli's hands immediately went to grab Legolas' shoulders to ground himself and not fall backwards, only to have Legolas suddenly sag forward and fall against his chest. 

"Hey? Hey, are you okay?!" Gimli asked urgently, growing even more concerned as he felt Legolas' shoulders violently tremble beneath his hands. But he didn't get an answer, not even an acknowledgement. Legolas buried his head tight against Gimli's beard, stifling what was undoubtedly heaving sobs. 

Gimli wasn't sure at all what he should do, what he could do, but he found that instinct took over. Carefully grabbing hold of Legolas' harshly trembling shoulders, he pressed the blonde gently against his chest, trying to make calming sounds. 

He still wasn't sure what had happened, but he was pretty sure calming Legolas down was the thing to do given how desperately his hands clutched to his shirt. 

His hand came up to card through the others hair, feeling it tangled and sweaty instead of the usual pristine state he always kept it. 

A panicked laughter nearly escaped Gimli at that thought, and he protectively clutched Legolas closer to him, concern rushing through his veins. 

It didn't take long though before Gimli noticed how Legolas' shoulders had tensed up, and his gasps turned obviously withheld. 

He was trying to calm down, Gimli realized, and he didn't stop combing his fingers through the others hair, the other making calming circles down his damp back. 

But long before Legolas had been able to get his breathing under control he began to push lightly against Gimli's chest, trying to get out from his hold. Gimli immediately let him, but a lot of worry and a lot of questions were still strongly on his mind.

'Are you okay' felt like something stupid to ask, especially seeing as Legolas never really seemed to open up to anyone anyway. 

But what could he ask then? He couldn't just sit here quietly, because Legolas was obviously so uncomfortable and self conscious right now, he knew as he watched the blonde hug himself tightly and stare down defiantly into his lap while still breathing heavily through pursed lips. 

But just as he opened up his mouth to say something, what he wasn't sure, Legolas beat him to it.

"I'm sorry," he began while still out of breath, and Gimli's eyebrows immediately grew tighter together. "It was just a stupid nightmare, I'll go get some air."

It was hard to maneuver in and out of the small tent, yet Legolas managed to slip out faster than Gimli could gather his bearings to understand that he was leaving. Kicking the covers from his feet, Gimli quickly made to follow him. 

He knew that perhaps it was better to leave Legolas alone, knew that was definitively what the panicked elf wanted, but he couldn't just let him wander out in the middle of the woods alone at night, especially not in such a mood. They knew nothing of the highs and lows of this ground, and in the dark it was easy to get hurt. 

Gimli whipped his head around in search the instant his head made it out of the tent. Even so, he was somehow too late. Legolas was nowhere to be seen in the darkness that surrounded them, already having disappeared in the foliage. 

"Legolas?" Gimli whispered loudly, searching around with his eyes. He couldn't very well wake up the entire camp. Everyone would question what he was going on about and the kids might get riled up and want to help him look. At the same time, Gimli didn't want Legolas alone out there, no matter how accustomed he was to woods of all kinds. Calling out again, Gimli was met with silence. 

He moved towards the treeline, searching around in the nearest area to see if maybe Legolas hadn't actually ventured of. He had no such luck however, and finally resigned to his fate with a heavy sigh. He couldn't very well get lost in the woods himself, having no idea which direction Legolas took. 

He'd be fine, Gimli knew, because Legolas if anyone could take care of himself. Still, seeing him that shaken up... It had somehow shattered the illusion Gimli had built of how untouchable Legolas seemed by everything. He'd never seen the blonde upset before, never even close to it, and they'd worked together for a few long summers. He was always collected, even in their more heated arguments, which tended to piss Gimli of even more (a fact he knew that Legolas was well aware of). To see him so shaken up... It had set of something in Gimli that he did not like one bit. 

And so he knew he wouldn't be able to find sleep. He tried calling and texting Legolas, hoping he at least had his phone on him if he was to run out in the dark, but he got no response. 

Finally, after sitting awake waiting for an hour or two, Gimli accidentally fell back to sleep from exhaustion. 

-

The next morning, he woke up from the slight bustling about outside the tent. Sitting up, Gimli immediately remembered the events of last night. Looking beside him, Legolas side was as empty as it had been when Gimli fell asleep. 

Slight panic rising in his chest, Gimli realized that he must not have come back last night. 

Immediately, he moved to get out of the tent in a rush. When he looked out, he saw Aragorn, glancing up to say a simple good morning, a pot of coffee being prepared in his hand. Beside him was Arwen, nodding the greeting to him as well. 

And there right next to them was Legolas, sitting on the grass and scrolling on his phone. Hair and clothes pristine as always, seeming as normal as could be. 

Gimli stared, but Legolas didn't look up. 

For the entirety of the day, both once more, pretended that last night hadn't happened. Only thing was that this time, Legolas would barely speak to him at all. 

If it had felt like they took a step forwards before, it felt much worse right then. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone had suggestions or ideas for more I'd be so impossibly happy to hear, cheers and have a lovely day!! :D <3<3


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